The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Dianthus that is grown for use as a flowering plant for pots and containers and as a hardy perennial for the garden and landscape. The new cultivar is known botanically as Dianthus×hybrida and will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name ‘ALVA’.
‘ALVA’ is a complex hybrid plant that is the product of a long term breeding program conducted in a greenhouse environment in Houndspool, Dawlish, Devon, United Kingdom. The primary focus of the breeding program is to produce new cultivars of Dianthus that exhibit unique growth habit and colors. The inventor selected ‘ALVA’ in 1999 for the color combination of its flowers. ‘ALVA’ exhibits a compact habit, grey-green fine foliage, and an abundance of single flowers that are colored magenta with a pale edge and a darker center.
‘ALVA’ resulted from the open pollination between Dianthus code name ‘99-09’ as female parent, and an unknown male parent. Both parents have been raised by the inventor but have not been released or patented.
‘ALVA’ is distinguishable from the female parent ‘99-09’ in flower size and flower color: the flowers of ‘99-09’ are smaller and do not exhibit the pale edge of the flowers of ‘ALVA’.
The varieties of Dianthus which is considered by the inventor to most closely resemble ‘ALVA’ are the inventor's varieties Dianthus ‘India Star’ (unpatented) and Dianthus ‘Red Dwarf’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,437). Whereas the plant habits of these varieties are similar to ‘ALVA’, the flower colors or color combinations are different. The flowers of ‘India Star’ are rose-colored with a ruby-red center. The flowers of ‘Red Dwarf’ are red-colored with darker red centers.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by the inventor in 1999 in a cultivated area of Houndspool, United Kingdom. The method of asexual propagation used was vegetative cuttings. Since that time the characteristics of the new cultivar have been determined stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.